Didn’t even realize I have so many sarees in shades of yellow/mustard till I joined the pact. Again a Bengal cotton that Amma bought over 25 years ago. If you look closely, you’ll notice that she has done the peko stitch on the pallu herself, with a random shade of brown (on yellow!). You can make out that it’s done by the hand. It would have irked me some years ago. But now it brings back memories of the time when despite being a working woman, she’d get on these little projects over the weekend. Sometimes it was a saree peko, sometimes, it was making achaar, at times, it was climbing up 3 flights of stairs and making all kinds of paapads during summer, teaching me Maths and Physics, while we guard the papads from crows, monkeys or worse, daughters that love eating the paapads before they dry out. I distinctly remember the climbing up stairs bit, because Amma was affected by polio when she was 2 or 3. The 3rd among 7 daughters and 2 brothers, she studied B.Sc.in Kerala and B.E and M.E at IISc. Blr, to send her scholarship money back home, so that her sisters could get educated and married. She’s not had it easy in her life. Shifting to Mumbai to join TIFR (Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Appa could call it Tata Institute of Fun and Recreation), commuting by local train when she was expecting my older brother, she once fell in the station. My parents took a transfer to Blr, where she joined the Govt. of India’s ADE (Aeronautical Development Establishment) as a Scientist, A woman of few words with an amazing dry sense of humour, despite an unfortunate accident in 1999, she went on to complete 60 years of service, amazing us all with her grit and determination. My relationship with her has changed so much from being the rebellious daughter that went and cut her hair in a blunt cut in Class 9, to being the typical teenager and having differences with her mother. Today, when I have a problem, the first person I call is Amma. How can this post be complete without a picture of the woman I admire the most, the strongest person I know, my pillar of strength, my Amma. The snap of both of us was clicked in 2010 on my 34th birthday. Love it because Amma looks so beautiful and content. This snap is special because it is the last birthday that I’d celebrated with Appa. Blessed to be your daughter Amma! SO proud of you! You are my idol and my biggest inspiration. For a change, the neck piece is not from the Tibetan Aunty, but from an exhibition I walked into at Safina Plaza. The earrings are made from a larger jhumka that I thought was excessive. The blouse belongs to another saree, and although the shade of green is not perfect, I thought it looked okay.